Most attempts to improve the quality of image sensors have focused on making them more sensitive to low light. A newly-developed organic CMOS sensor from Fuji and Panasonic goes in the other direction. It increases the sensor’s saturation level — while at the same time reducing noise. The result is a ground-breaking 88dB of signal-to-noise (s/n), about 12dB above the typical value for conventional silicon sensors.

Higher signal-to-noise means improved dynamic range. The 12dB increase is expected to mean that the new sensor design is capable of gathering four times the light of a traditional design, or about 2 f-stops more dynamic range. That means that a single frame captured using this new sensor design could contain essentially all the same information as a bracket of three images shot at -1, 0 and +1 f-stop exposures. Best of all, of course, that data would be captured in a single instant, making HDR-quality images of action scenes a reality. (Extreme Tech).